Video games are Beneficial for People

“Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock n' roll.”

This is how Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and many successful franchises, answered to early claims that video games were detrimental to the youth.

Video games are said to be harmful for the mental and physical health of adults and children, but games can also be beneficial, depending on how they reflect what they learned while playing unto their lives.

Usually, the root of debates among many regarding this subject is on the violence shown in the games, classifying the games as time-wasters, and causing harmful effects to the person as a whole.

Events such as the shootings that occurred last year are linked to video games.

This is a common misconception, because people mistakenly link real-world violence to virtual violence, even though virtual violence is merely a form of entertainment.

Even so rather than create more violence, they reflect real-world violence.

Said shootings had been caused by individuals who were thought to be on their right minds who suddenly became violent killers from one day to another due to video games.

Even though they possessed violent games, this was not the sole cause of it, as many factors may have led this to occur.

Some of them include: untreated mental issues, physical and psychological abuse, addictions, economic status, peer influence, or asocial behavior due to certain personality traits.

The abuses can be for example, bullying or an unstable environment at home, while the addictions can be to alcohol or drugs.

Video games are blamed as the source of these violent events.

Politicians point fingers at video games for a quick scapegoat, in order to appease and gain support of a community...

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Violence in games is a reflection of real-world violence, meaning it was already existing.

Even though parents or educators criticize kids and adults for wasting their time in something that will not help them in life, games provide means for many good things to occur.

Being detrimental for the health of someone is not solely caused by video games; it may have to do with an already unbalanced lifestyle, or an addictive behavior.

Games can be beneficial or harmful, it all depends on how they apply what they learn through games into their life.

Simon Sinek said, "The only time I waste is time I spend doing something that, in my gut, I know I shouldn't. If I choose to spend time playing video games or sleeping in, then it's time well spent, because I chose to do it. I did it for a reason - to relax, to decompress or to feel good, and that was what I wanted to do."